Watch the news. Read a paper. Heck, read the Bible. The Q’ran. The Talmud. Look at all the things God (supposedly) did, and does. Smiting the disobedient, wiping out whole cities and peoples, flooding the World, torturing innocents just to see if they love him enough. Killing babies. Roasting people in Hell for all eternity. Sending tsunamis, floods and earthquakes that wipe out thousands of innocent people, just to punish a few guys for having anal sex. As it’s often been pointed out, these are not the actions of a sane human being, let alone a loving, well-adjusted deity.

A huge proportion of the things God does are demonstrably evil. And yet he keeps telling us he loves us. These are the actions of an abuser, not a loving parent – and certainly not a loving god.

Based on what we know, isn’t it more likely that the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he was God?

We get that feeling from the values instilled in us by our parents and by society. Sometimes those values are religiously-inspired, sometimes not. That doesn’t mean religion is true, just that some people get the same values from their religious instruction that the rest of us arrive at through common sense and reason. Those values pre-date religion. If they didn’t, religion would never have got the chance to arise, because we’d have slaughtered each other long before it got that chance.

I didn’t say “God and Satan are the same because they both require worship and sacrifice”, I said that given what we know about the world and what happens in it, it makes more sense to believe that the person we think is God is actually the Devil, who has fooled us into thinking he is God.

But of course, since neither of them exist (you think they do? Prove it.), the whole discussion is academic. I was being tongue-in-cheek, as any rationalist would immediately have realised.

unfortunately since god is all knowing and all seeing he knows you will never change your mind and thus will be sentenced to hell, because he already knows your decisions beforehand, and being the loving god would condem something he knew would happen. That makes perfect sense (the sarcasm). He wants our love, yeah omnipotenet being “Want” yeah. They follow human concepts, yes. yes god find it reasonable to punish everybody because of two “humans” sins. He had to kill himself to save us fom him….self…..me too. I love the lack of reasoning. I like how people can nit pick what parts of the bible they follow, and ignore the rest, thus creating their own version of god. Lets all remember there is only one person right, if your intepreation is slightly off oh well hell for you too. omnipotent beings dont punish or care, they already know.

Actually, it is you that is hard work. The Lord does as He wishes to do, and man is put to his own hardships because of his disobedience. We were made to be forever and in communion with The Lord our God. You say that God doesn’t exist? I don’t need to prove that he does, but can you prove that he does not? The Word states “Lean not on your own understanding, but every word which comes out of the mouth of God.” Man’s logic, though strong and gifted by The Creator, is not infallible, for Man cannot even unravel the complete science of their own bodies and minds, yet The One who made us in His Image, has designed this system and reveals to us what is His will. Most of what happens in the World of Today is by Man’s hand, and so The Lord has indicated for his Church to be ever viligant for his return, but to also carry out his mission of love, charity, humility, chastity, peace and selflessness.

Of the many men and women claiming there is no God, not one can explain the sudden recovery of those who are gravely ill. How one exposed to disease and decay remain healthy when it ought not be so? Where men and women are exposed to mental images so horrifying from war, yet still keep their minds; I tell you, it is the Hand of God that does these things through His Servants in the World.

The Truth is, the Greatest Trick Satan ever performed is convince the world he didn’t exist. If people didn’t believe of His Existence, they would come to rebellion by trusting in themselves instead of The Lord Almighty. They would never come to realize the gravity of what they are doing, because they rationalize that their can be no God if There is no Satan. There is no light without shadow and their can be no reason to trust God if there is no evil to harm them. And in this, they have already fallen because their pride will lead them to perdition. That or they reject the Good News because the world is much in love with itself and its nature. Dr. LaVey stated that Man is the highest being that is. In denying the existence of God and Satan (for that is what he truly did), and setting himself and all like him as gods, the men and women who denied God, denied the existence of His adversary have fallen to Pride.

The Lord calls all out of Darkness and into His Marvelous Light. He didn’t come to call the righteous, but the sinner. Hell is the absence of God, and to those who doubt it is real, ask the very accuser who wages against Him eternally because of Pride, and who will, at the End of Time, shall see the justice of The Lord. All that follow with him shall meet the same. I encourage you to listen and seek the Kingdom of God before it is too late.

It starts with the premise that god created heaven and human beings but through the actions of two people, Adam and Eve, no one was ever going to be allowed to actually go to heaven. In order to fix this, the all powerful god had to create a loophole. So he made a son who had to live a sinless life and die from execution for blasphemy and now all the people had to do to get into heaven was believe in his son.

That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Let’s not even get into the whole Adam and Eve silliness, there’s no chance that all human life on this planet originated with one person who had a female sculpted from his rib bone. It’s a myth created by an ancient civilization to explain ideas they couldn’t comprehend.

Well I’m a girl who is atheist (for anyone who wanted to know it…) Seriously i can’t describe how much I actually liked the text it’s so… true! Many christian people always judge the black one how do you know that god didn’t create them? Is there even a singel proof that god was a man? And is there proof that god even exist…? People in this world has a lot of prejudices and the worst of all greed. That’s the things that make our word so unstable we have to much faith in something that we even don’t know really exist. Why do you belive in god and not the whole theory about big bang? Because the odds is the same we don’t know how big bang was created and the heck we know how god was made, created or born. Without knowing it we all have fallen in a big fat trap in life, everything is somehow just a game…

You do realize that you used a quote from the movie “The Usual Suspects” and not any religious text whatsoever, right? Just want to make sure you’re aware of that.

Secondly, it’s your free will that God gave to you to choose whether or not to believe in Him. Without that free will to choose what to believe in, being saved by faith in Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior who died on the cross for all sinners that will just accept Him fully into their hearts would be rendered absolutely pointless. After all, if we weren’t given free will, we’d all have no choice to believe. The very existence of Jesus in the flesh would have been pointless.

Instead, there were over 40 prophecies alone that were fulfilled by the birth of Jesus and countless more from his entire lifespan and works… All from scripture that was written anywhere from 10’s to 1000s. Of years before he came to this world.

You say that God did and does all these terrible things but I challenge you to read the Bible more in depth. Sure anybody can read bits and pieces and take anything out of context. Even Jesus said to pluck out your own if you really want to take things out of context. What he really was saying was that if the problem in your life is something precious to you, isn’t life even more precious? If your eye is cancerous and the only way to rid yourself of the cancer was to have it surgically removed, wouldn’t you do that and save your life? Likewise, if there is salvation (the promise of everlasting life after our bodies in this world inevitably give out) for simply doing the right thing, being obedient to God and accepting Him into your heart, wouldn’t you rather give up the vices that are causing you to sin in oreder to live forever in His Kingdom that is infinitely greater than this world than face certain death (spiritual) for continuing the way that you are?

Furthermore, God never claims that this world is a great world. In fact, He knows it is a terrible place. In fact, He tells us not to love the things of this world because He has greater things awaiting you if you choose to accept.

Please read the Bible… altogether and in context the way it was intended and I guaratee things will make much more sense. You’ll realize God certainly isn’t the perpetrator of evil that you claim Him to be.

ok peter m you ask cyp to show you proof that their is a God.. but i bet u cant show proof that their isn’t one…..which there is..how do i know cause i have faith in him(GOD) and his son Jesus Christ that how and that all you need and another thing is that when religious people talk about GOD and Jesus they always get the warm and good feeling and become happy that because they feel his presents around them which you will fell in heaven..how do i know well read a book called the revelations of heaven and hell and this my change your life around which does need to change…god bless

If you have a resonably open mind, read on. If you prefer to wallow in and continue to justify your “valuable” personal opinion, then stop reading now.

There is only one valid religious organisation in existence, and it is the Catholic Church. Tall claim? It is the one religious institution based on the only valid authority to have existed on earth – Jesus of Nazareth himself. No other religious “prophet” claimed to actually be the Son of God, and we know from historical documentation that he wasn’t an insane mad-man…so if the man was as reputable and respected as He apparently was, why would He say that if it wasn’t true?

Protestant Christian Churches represent dis-unity, which is the opposite of harmony – that which we know from reason is a source of pleasure and happiness. So they, by their very existence by rebelling from the central authority of the Papacy, are unable to ratify the truth, being subject to debate, argument and conflicting opinion on how to interpret the Bible. And we see the fruits of such conjecture with fundamentalist Christian sects believing their own limited interpretions, and contributing to propogation of confusion in the process.

Truth does not require debate and is not subject to opinion, it simply is. This clarity is found in the Catholic teachings though. Don’t believe it? DO SOME RESEARCH!

Non-christian religious teachings are mingled with truths to give them credibility, but are really the inspiration of the fallen angels to create confusion and dis-trust in religious behavior. Yet there is still some part of us that longs for answers, for a valid authority which we can turn to for these answers, and trust that those answers are right and true. No wonder there’s so much confusion out there!

Stands to reason then that cunning evil knows this too and has set about to convince everyone that faith and obedience is EVIL and oppressive..therefore, in particular the Pope is an instrument of control over us and must be shunned. Or so evil would have us think. In fact the opposite is true. Obedience to the True Catholic Faith is the only way to truly happy. Tried and tested for a couple of thousand years now. Take it or leave it.

At the end of the day, God’s spirit of truth is in us all, even the evil ones know truth, despising it as they do for exposing their lies and deceptions.

I would have to disagree with the Catholic Church being the ONLY tried and true.. I don’t think ANY religion has gotten it right.. The bible says that anywhere God/Jesus are spoken of in love and worship is considered a church. Too many religions focus on just that the religion not the CHURCH or Praise of God.

He doesn’t have to convince the world, presay. But make man believe that there could be no good without evil. The reason man is giving into this idea is because it gives them free reign to do evil deeds then say Im only human. Which is why God has to save man from himself. The reason why I know God exist is because of nature. All through the bible He is describing Himself where man could understand…nature. Christ used parables often so one could understand.

The Devil is just your ego. “The greatest trick the ego ever pulled is convincing the world it does not exist.” What is ego? The little voice we all have that wants to be better/smarter/more correct than others. The cause of all conflict. If you think you don’t have this, or that it can’t be the cause of suffering, you have been tricked by the statement above.

To the author of this passage. If I may state I am a publicly announced devoted Christian and I find the passage to be very sad! You as the author I will pray for because it is in your own words truely obvious that you are lost. I will pray that you will be saved from your own dimise when your time comes. I pray for your sake that are saved before then because our God tells all of his people that you will pay the piper at some point! I have no stones to cast at you because I am human thus making me a sinner like all others. But I am bless with intellectual aptitude to see that there is greater beings in this world than myself! I am not perfect nor will proclaim to be but I have full and complete clairity that I will never earn a soap box to stand on! The one that others posses to erect themselves upon is only self created. In conclusion look yourself in the mirror each day and point this question at yourself, ” Do I think that I am special to anyone in this world other than myself, my pareants, my blood family, and God?” If your answer is Yes, then you truely are a legend in your own mind! When you die the WORLD WILL NOT STOP TO MORN YOUR LOSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a believer in Jesus, I would have to strongly disagree about the ‘superiority’ of the Catholic Church. There are so many customs part of that church that have little if nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus himself, and sadly that is probably likely of many, if not all churches in general. That’s but one of the few reasons I personally choose not to attend church, as I strongly believe in a personal relationship with God. I agree with the previous post as to everyone coming their own conclusions. But matters regarding spirituality are always going to be complex as we all experience things in different ways depending on our spiritual status and receptiveness. But to claim any branch as superior to another is just pointless and rather ignorant. God is too great to be so plainly defined; at the same time, you know that when you have Him around you, it’s unlike any thing else and cannot be compared to any worldly pleasure we may have here on earth.
Some people are satisfied with certain things, others just want more. But no one is beyond redemption if they want it. +

Anyone who seriously believes in God is either stupid or so helpless that they let themselves be comforted by fictional stories. Why believe the bible is real? There’s no reason to. It’s exactly the same as all those Native American tales to demonstrate right from wrong. It uses created figures to prove an overall point. Yet, for some reason, people lost sight of the fact that just like those other stories, it is FICTION. Because of that, the world would be a better place if religion didn’t exist, because the only things that comes from truly religious people are war, anger, hatred, and the inability to consider the world from other viewpoints. Religious people are the worst people I have ever met, and I wish that there was a way to avoid them completely or cure them of the way they’ve been brainwashed. Religion is the same as any cult; it’s just, sadly, more socially acceptable.

If you wanted to control an entire planet, how would you accomplish it?

By using the Monetary System

“Give me control over a nations currency, and I care not who makes its laws”
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1743-1812)

By using Wars

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

By using Politics

The “ILLUSION of CHOICE” is that we think that we have “FREEDOM”, all the while we are “Slaves”

Looking at the insane tenor of the political argument, you see how it prevents participation by design. One half of the “ELECTORAL” will not participate or even pay attention to it. Yes that is how effective the system has become; the masses are so truned off, that they just don’t care. The “ILLUSION of CHOICE” has been thrust upon the people of America; its concept is to divide only. It is through this didision that the “POWER” and I quote

“Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men’s views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it”

Woodrow Wilson

The Greatest Deception “EVIL” ever pulled was convincing the World that it was “GOD”.

[…] We could interpret Baudelaire's famous statement in different ways: First example (atheistic one): The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled | Effing the Ineffable Second example (atheistic one): Does it not make sense then to say that ""The Greatest […]

I’ve always thought the devil created us. The creator seems like a tantrum throwing bi-polar sociopath who is desperate for admiration for doing basically nothing but playing mental games with humans. LIke a parent who treats a child like crap but demands respect. Respect for what? You don’t know what birth control is so I should bow to you? I think Jesus is the one who came to Adam and Eve and tried to show them what was really happening. So, I believe Jesus is trying to save who he can. But if Jesus was in charge, there couldn’t possibly be the child murders and abuse that are rampant on this planet. The bible is backwards and obsessed with sacrifice, murder sex and sin. Even the oh I’m sending my son to be abused and beaten to death to save you? I am a parent. I would give myself before ever allowing harm to come to my child! Any parent who says otherwise is a disgusting selfish tool!.

Also, if the Loving God made us, and knows everything in advance, why would he go ahead and do it, knowing most people end up stupid, disgusting pieces of selfish trash? I know good loving people. But the majority are seriously disturbed , ugly, selfish and just plain dumb. Where is the perfection? The Loving God would have the idea, see where it leads, then say, nah. Bad idea.
We obviously have no idea of the actual history of creation. I see things in advance. But I still don’t understand why.